


Finding You

by joblessQuinoa



Category: My Engineer (TV), My Engineer (TV) RPF
Genre: 2gether AU, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, I say it's an AU but I'm actually building off of canon, Insecurity, No beta testing we own the plot holes like champs, These things are canon lmao, and appropriating certain events from 2gether to develop the relationship, don't mind me just clowning on bl tropes, it is a little sad in the beginning so be warned, sad boi hours for Ting Ting, singer!Fon, this fic is sponsored by those chips that Boss and Mek are always eating, vlogger!TingTing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:28:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24558442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joblessQuinoa/pseuds/joblessQuinoa
Summary: "If there was a Hell on earth, it was here in this club, surrounded by her friends who had found someone who really understood them."Ting Ting was happy for her friends who had started dating. Really. She leveraged her single-ness for humor, but it was difficult to maintain the facade sometimes.
Relationships: Fon/TingTing (My Engineer)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 13





	1. BRB Crying in the Club

Ting Ting seethed and took another shot against the background of loud rock music. In front of her, Mek was feeding French fries to a tipsy Boss. She turned to her right, where Bohn and Duen were whispering and laughing, their heads pressed close together. To her left, King and Ram were sitting shoulders touching, hands intertwined. 

If there was a Hell on earth, it was here in this club, surrounded by her friends who had found someone who really understood them. In their entire friend circle, it was just Tang, her, Phu, and Tee who were single, but they had already wagered bets (Phu and Tee excluded) on when Phu and Tee would start dating. And as for Tang...

She glanced to the far side of the table where he was half-heartedly watching the band performing. He had expressed his disinterest in dating multiple times in the past. She groaned and put her head on the table. Even alcohol could not lift away her sorrows tonight. Her thoughts were clouded. Was she really that bad? What if she never found someone who liked her back the way she liked them? She lifted her head from the table and shifted her eyes to Bohn.

Maybe at some point in the past, she had felt something for him. They were friends now of course, and those feelings were long gone. But sometimes, when she looked at him, she felt a bittersweet sadness. Times like right now. She turned away, her brain lagging behind her movements.

“Please give a round of applause for AssaXin for that amazing performance, “ she heard the emcee say. Ting Ting clapped and hollered, even though she had not particularly enjoyed the music. It was love-for-everybody o’clock. “Next up, we have Ctrl + F,” the emcee boomed. The crowd whooped and cheered. 

“Hey, that’s Fon’s band,” Boss yelled. “That’s my friend!”

“Fon?” Ting Ting yelled at him. She racked her brain, struggling to place the name. 

“My ex,“ Boss slurred back. Mek’s eyebrows knit, but Boss sensed the discontent and placed his hand on Mek’s. “She’s just a friend now, I promise.” He held up three fingers with his other hand.

Ting Ting focused her attention on the girl on stage who must’ve been Fon. She was pretty, like she could’ve been a celebrity. As if reading her thoughts, Boss piped up again.

“She was almost an idol,” he added. When Fon started singing, Ting Ting thought it was a shame that she was no longer pursuing being an idol. Unlike all the previous performers, Fon’s band had chosen a ballad, and Fon’s voice sent shivers down Ting Ting’s spine. The soft delivery of lyrics about loving someone who didn’t love you the same way hit Ting Ting like a brick, and she found herself tearing up. It was the alcohol, she told herself. 

Fuck. 

She closed her eyes, basking in the melody, the sounds of people around her, and the warmth of the alcohol, savoring the moment. By the end of the set, tears had escaped, streaming down her cheeks. As people around her cheered and clapped for the performance, Ting Ting got up, stumbling a little, and headed for the bathroom. 

“Is she okay?” she heard Duen whisper. 

In the bathroom, Ting Ting splashed her face with water, washing away the tears and runaway makeup. She hoped nobody had seen. Being sad about being single was pathetic and embarrassing. Still drunk, she reapplied her mascara and eyeliner as best she could. Inspecting her work in the dirty mirror, she took a deep breath and left the bathroom. 

And ran straight into someone, almost falling over. Almost, because the other person had grabbed her hand, preventing her from falling. “Are you okay?” Ting Ting heard the person ask her.

Once her adrenaline calmed down, she looked at the person who had saved her from touching the mysteriously sticky floor of the club.  
It was Fon, the singer from before. 

Somewhere in Ting Ting’s alcohol-addled brain, she knew she should say thank you. But her brain felt so far from her physical body right now that she couldn’t make her mouth utter the sounds. So she just stared, her heart pounding. This was the person who had moved her to tears with lyrics of an unrequited love. Her entire body felt like it was on fire.

Perhaps, she knew exactly what Ting Ting was feeling. There were so many things she wanted to say, but her mouth was having none of it. 

Fon let go of the hand that Ting Ting had forgotten she had been holding and leaned in closer.

“This is going to sound wildly out of place, but” she lowered her voice, whispering in Ting Ting’s ear. “if you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to kiss you until you drop.”

Ting Ting swallowed. Fon backed away and smiled. 

“See you,” she said, and walked away, leaving Ting Ting to wonder what the hell that meant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contrary to how Ting Ting feels about them, AssaXin is a cool band, and several of the members did a [Gurenge cover ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-e8sDhCBGo)on Produce Camp :0


	2. She wonders why it be like this

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She makes a Mistake™

Ting Ting approached their usual lunch table in the courtyard, lunch in hand and bag slung over her shoulder. She paused when she overheard them talking.

“Hey, do you think Ting Ting has been a little, I don’t know, off?” she heard Duen ask. 

“What do you mean?” asked Boss, stuffing chips into his face.

She huffed and stomped up to them, catching them by surprise.

“You know,” she said, slamming her bag down on the table. “I can hear you talking about me from all the way over there.” She took a seat and looked at them. “Where are Ram and King?”

“Physics homework,” Tang said without looking up from his computer. “Phu and Tee are also doing work.” Ting Ting marveled at the seemingly endless amount of physics homework Ram had. It was as if physics were the only class engineering majors took. Time to backpedal. 

“And what were you guys saying about me?” she asked, giving each of them a death stare. 

Duen looked at her with concern. “Are you feeling okay?”

Ting Ting scoffs. “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Your last vlog got over 10,000 views.” Tang turns his laptop towards her so she can see the screen. “The one from the camping trip last month.”

Ting Ting blinked at him and then looked at the screen. Oh wow. That was quite the number of people.

“Normally, you would be over the moon,” Tang mused. “But this time, you didn’t mention it at all.”

Ting Ting smiled and laughed nervously. “Oh, I didn’t want to brag,” she said. “And you know, all of you guys were in the camping vlog as well, so there’s no way I could take all the credit for myself.”

Tang frowned, squinting at her. “Who are you, and what did you do with Ting Ting? Normally you would be trying of extort money from all of us for being featured in your vlog.”

She swallowed. How was it that he sometimes knew her better than she knew herself?

“He’s right,” Boss said between bites of chips and Mek telling him to slow down. Boss was constantly shoveling chips into his mouth like he was being paid to. “What’s up with you, Ting Ting?”

Bohn narrowed his eyes and smirked. “Let me guess. You’re upset because you’re still single.” Ting Ting winced internally. That was one of the two things on her mind.

“Of course not,” she protested loudly. 

Bohn raised an eyebrow. “So what I’m hearing is that…you’re not single?”

Ting Ting felt the world pause for a second. She scoffed. “Of course I’m not single. You think you guys are the only ones who have game?” She cringed at her own lie, but it was too late to back out. The table erupted in yelling.

“Who is it?” Duen asked.

“Do we know them?” Boss yelled.

Riding the adrenaline, Ting Ting responded. “Oh, you’ll meet them in due time.” She smirked externally and screamed internally.

* * *

  


“Tang, you have to help me,” she begged. She had found Tang sitting on a bench in a quiet, scenic part of campus. He was at the top of the hit list labeled _Potential Fake Partners for a Suffering Girl (Me)_. 

Tang furrowed his brows and rubbed his temples. “Let me get this straight. You lied to our friends about being in a relationship. And now you need to find a person to be your fake partner,” he started. Ting Ting nodded apprehensively, holding her breath. “And the person you want to pretend to be your partner is…me.”

“Ding Ding Ding!” she yelled. “Correct!”

Tang looked at her incredulously. “Ting Ting, what dramas have you been watching?” 

She smacked his arm. “Shut up. Will you do it?”

Tang ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “I’m seeing someone,” he said bluntly.

Her mouth dropped open, eyes wide. “Top ten anime betrayals,” she yelled, jumping up from where she had been sitting on the bench next to him. She pointed an accusatory finger at him. “Since when? You said you weren’t interested! Does anyone else know?”

Tang looked up at her in disbelief. “I said I wasn’t interested when the topic came up three years ago!” Answering her second question, he said, “For about two weeks now. He’s in the faculty of music, and no, none of our friends know.”

“Not someone in the faculty of engineering?” she asked.

Tang frowned. “Why would they-”

“Never mind,” Ting Ting cuts him off. She smiled deviously. “Ohh, he’s going to be in so much trouble when our friends find out.”

“Why do you think I haven’t told anyone?” Tang sighed.

“When can I meet him?” Ting Ting asked, bouncing on her feet.

As she was saying this, she noticed Tang’s gaze was focused on something behind her. She turned to see a man walking towards them with a guitar slung over his shoulder. He looked kind of familiar.

“Speak of the devil,” Tang said. Ting Ting could hear the smile in his voice and fought back a pang of envy. “He’s here.” 

And next to the guitar man was Fon. 

Ting Ting froze, her mind bringing forth hazy memories of a club bathroom. _If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to kiss you until you drop._ She swallowed and averted her gaze, barely registering what Tang was saying to her.

“You won’t believe this, but he’s been teaching me how to play guitar,” he said. 

“Oh, I’d believe it,” she said absent-mindedly. Her head snapped to Tang. “Fon goes to this school?”

“Yea,” he said. “Why?”

Before she could answer, guitar man called out, “Tangggg.” He waved. 

Tang waved back and got up from his seat to stand next to Ting Ting. 

“Earth, this is my friend Ting Ting, and Ting Ting, this is my boyfriend, Earth.” Tang said. The pause before the word boyfriend and the smile after did not go unnoticed. “And this is Earth’s friend, Fon. They’re both in Ctrl + F together.”

That’s why he had looked familiar.

Earth greeted her. “Nice to meet you. I’ve heard things about you.” This man was all smiles. “Uh, Ting Ting, Tang, this is my friend, Fon,” he said. “Fon, this is my boyfriend, Tang.”

Ting Ting looked distrustfully at Tang. “What have you been telling your boyfriend about me?”

Tang cleared his throat and looked at Ting Ting meaningfully. “Actually, I’ve been telling him how desperately you know longer want to be single.”

Ting Ting readied her fists. 

Tang continued, turning towards Earth and Fon. “In fact, my friend here was just telling me how much she needed someone to be her fake partner,” he said, throwing an arm around her. “Because my friend here lied to our entire friend group about dating someone.” 

She scowled and angrily removed the arm he had put around her. Top five anime betrayals.

Earth laughed. “Fake partner? What types of dramas have you been watching?”

Tang turned to Fon. “Hey, are you seeing anyone right now?” Fon shook her head.

Ting Ting felt the heat creep into her cheeks. “What are you doing?” 

“Helping you,” Tang responded. He shot a knowing smile at Earth. “You know, Earth and I actually have a guitar lesson right now. We’ll leave you two alone now.” He got up and took Earth’s hand, and the two of them walked off. 

Ting Ting yelled after them. “I’ll tell the rest of the gang you’re dating someone.”

“And I’ll tell them you lied,” Tang yelled back without looking at her.

She huffed. He had her there. 

“So he’s your friend, huh?” Fon asked, watching Tang and Earth walk away. 

Ah, conversation. Two could play at this game. “Usually, but he’s on thin fucking ice right now,” Ting Ting responded. _If you keep looking at me like that…_ “So, uh, you go here?”

Fon smiled. “Yea. Faculty of music.” She paused. “I followed Earth because he told me he was on his way to see his boyfriend, and I was nosy. I didn’t expect to run into you here.”

Ting Ting laughed nervously. “Yea. Small world, huh?” _That night at the club…_ “Are you really single?” She hated communication so much. 

Fon nodded slowly. “Yea,” she said. “I am. Why?”

_What did you mean when you said…_

“Please go out with me,” Ting Ting blurted. Wait, no. “I mean, what Tang was saying before. About fake dating.” She was stumbling over her words now, face fully flushed. Right now, she very much needed aliens to appear and whisk her away from this crime scene. 

Fon’s brows furrowed. “Is Boss one of the friends you lied to?” she asked softly.

Ting Ting felt her heart drop. She was so stupid. How could she have forgotten? She opened her mouth, trying to think of something to say, but Fon spoke up. 

“I’ll do it.”

“That’s okay, I --,” Ting Ting started. Pause. “Wait, what?”

“I said I’ll do it.”

“But-- ,“ Ting Ting was cut off again. 

“Boss and I are friends. It’ll be fine,” Fon said, offering a smile. “There’s nothing between us.” She handed her phone with the messenger app open to Ting Ting.

Finding herself, Ting Ting tapped the “Add Friend” button next to her profile picture. And then for good measure, she opened the chat with herself and sent several kiss-face emojis before handing the phone back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((The whole squad do be gay tho))
> 
> This chapter is sponsored by:  
> \- Messenger  
> \- writing html formatting in a word document


	3. If your friends don't thrive on your suffering, are they really your friends?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Careful, there's fanart in this one.

Ting Ting watched the upload bar for her latest vlog creep slowly towards completion on her laptop screen. For this one, she had dragged Phu and Tang with her to rate food at the cheapest food stalls and restaurants around the city. Some of the places they visited were appallingly bad, but a few were surprisingly good. She dedicated this video to all the broke college kids out there. 

She picked up her phone and opened Messenger to her conversation with Fon. She wrote, _12:30 PM in the courtyard tomorrow_ followed by the ok emoji and a question mark. 

Soon after sending the message, her phone lit up with Fon’s confirmation. Ting Ting smiled.

 _I’m bringing her to lunch tomorrow_ , she texted the group chat. _Don’t be late_. Then she muted the chat and went back to watching her video upload. This was going to be good.

* * *

In a rare turn of events, the entire squad showed up for lunch the next day, buzzing with excitement. They even had to pull up an additional table and chairs for everyone. For once, Ram miraculously had no physics homework to do. They all looked at Ting Ting expectantly as she sipped her drink nervously.

“We’re very excited,” Duen said, stating the obvious.

“Can you give us a hint?” Boss prodded. “Do we know them?”

Ting Ting almost choked on her drink. Out of the corner of her eye, Tang shot her a knowing look. She shot back the dirtiest look she could muster.

“You know,” Bohn said, a mischievous glint in his eye. “whoever it is, we’re going to make them prove themselves worthy. With a test.”

Ting Ting almost choked again. Fuck, she had forgotten to warn Fon what she and her friends were like. 

She bit her lip, silently going over the story that she and Fon had corroborated several days earlier. She and Fon had run into each other at the club, in the bathroom where they had struck up a conversation and added each other on Messenger. They had agreed on this pretty easily. The contention came when they had to decide who had liked who first and who asked who out. These were obviously the most important questions.

It was obvious to Ting Ting. Fon was the one who had liked and asked first. Her friends would think it was set up otherwise, she had argued to Fon over Messenger. 

_Do your friends not allow you to have feelings?_ Fon had retorted. 

In the end, they decided that Ting Ting had liked first, but Fon had been the one to ask her out. 

_How long are you planning on lying to them?_ Fon had asked. 

Ting Ting wasn’t sure. Perhaps she should’ve thought of this before asking Fon. Or perhaps Fon should’ve pressed the question before accepting the role. Two weeks, Ting Ting wrote. _They’ll probably have forgotten about it by then._

 _Glad to know I’m that forgettable,_ Fon responded jokingly. Ting Ting had felt warm inside. 

Now, Ting Ting looked around, and when she spotted Fon, she waved. The rest of her friends turned to where she was looking. 

“Hey, that’s Fon. What’s she-?” Boss broke off, the realization hitting him. He swiveled his head towards Ting Ting, eyes wide.

As Fon approached their table, Ting Ting jumped up from her seat to stand next to Fon. All eyes were on her now, and she felt her palms start to slick. 

“Guys, please meet my girlfriend, the one and only wonderful, beautiful, and talented, Fon,” Ting Ting said, striking a pose to mask her nerves. 

Fon looked a little taken aback by Ting Ting’s over-the-top introduction, but she recovered with a smile. “Hey, It’s nice to meet you, although it seems some of you know me already,” she said, glancing briefly at Boss. “I’m Fon, Ting Ting’s – _pause_ – girlfriend.“

It was King who ultimately broke the silence by introducing himself, and one by one, they went around the table and did introductions. When it came to Boss’ turn, instead off introducing himself, he looked between her and Fon. Ting Ting held her breath, but Boss broke out into a wide smile. 

“Wow, I never would’ve guessed. It’s a little weird,” he said. Mek elbowed him in the side and gave him a look. “Ow. But I’m happy for you guys.” 

Tee leaned closer. “Ok, I’m curious. How long has this been a thing?”

“Right! We saw Fon performing at the club just the other day,” Duen said. “Were you guys already dating then?”

Anticipating this question, Ting Ting responded, “Yep!” 

“Then why didn’t you tell us back then?” Bohn asked. 

Improv time. She moved closer to Fon, taking her hand and intertwining their fingers. She felt Fon stiffen a bit. “Ting Ting –,“ Fon whispered.

“Fon’s a little shy,” Ting Ting said, trying to ignore the warmth of Fon’s palm against hers. “It would’ve been too soon to introduce you guys.”

Tang, who had been quiet up until that point, decided that he had something important to add to the conversation. He cleared his throat. “As Bohn said before,” he started. “It is customary for us to test our friends’ partners with challenges.”

She scowled at him, trying to convey with her eyes all the terrible things she would make him and Earth do once their relationship was exposed. He failed to receive the telepathic communication and kept talking. 

“What do you guys think?” he asked, addressing the rest of the table. He was so dead to her. 

Ting Ting tried to protest, but she was drowned out by the rest of the table chiming in agreement. Bohn was by far the loudest, glad to be on the other side of the situation this time. They were all dead to her. 

She looked at Fon. “It’s okay. You don’t have to do this. I can convince them,” Ting Ting whispered. “I think.”

Fon squeezed Ting Ting’s hand, sending a jolt of electricity up her arm. She turned towards Ting Ting and leaned in. “Let’s humor them,” Fon whispered back. With their faces so close together, time seemed to stop for a moment. Fon smelled like flowers, and Ting Ting swallowed. 

“Oh ho, what are you two whispering about?” Boss asked, causing Ting Ting to jump and let go of Fon’s hand. “So sweet.”

Ting Ting cleared her throat. “None of your business.”

Bohn wagged a finger. “Don’t think that you can get out of this by openly displaying your affection for each other,” he said. “And we’re not going to go easy on you either. Right, Ram?”

Ram raised an eyebrow. “I’m not going to fight her, if that’s what you’re talking about,” he said quietly.

“What the hell, man?” Bohn yelled, as the table erupted into laughter. Duen put his hand on Bohn’s shoulder consolingly. 

Fon laughed with them. “If you guys insist, I would be down,” she said, looking at Ting Ting. “The challenges, I mean. I don’t know how I feel about fighting Ram though.”

Phu clapped once, getting their attention. “I have an idea for the first challenge,” he said. He looked at Fon. “Please, treat us to dinner at The Kitchen Cuisine.”

Ting Ting frowned. Why did that name sound so familiar?

“The Kitchen Cuisine?” Fon turned to Ting Ting. “You went to that one in your latest vlog, right?” 

_Oh._

Fon put a finger to her chin. “If I recall correctly, you said the food was good for the price,” she said. She looked at Phu. “I’m down.”

Phu whooped and did a fist pump. 

Ting Ting glanced at Fon out of the corner of her eye. So Fon had watched some of her videos for this. _Not bad,_ Ting Ting thought, smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Alternative Title_ : Boss and Mek are bad campus ambassadors for those chips because they appeared 0 times this chapter (the audacity)
> 
>  _Alternative Alternative Title_ : Did I draw fanart for this ghost ship? Yes. Yes I did. (Did I also forget to sign it before uploading? Yes, yes I did D:)


	4. Ting Ting Hates it Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you put this chapter under a microscope, you might see the Sotus reference/shade.

Ting Ting scrutinized the reaction diagrams of chemical compounds in her textbook, her brows furrowing in concentration. The carbon went there, and the hydrogen went there, but where the hell did the other oxygen molecule disappear to? She squinted. And why were the letters suddenly in a different order? What was going on?

She placed her head on the page of the book in defeat and shut her eyes, letting the ambient sounds of students working in the library wash over her. If she focused hard enough, surely osmosis would kick in. 

“Ting Ting?”

She opened her eyes to see Ram looking down at her with concern. Reluctantly, she removed her head from the textbook and sat up. 

Ram pointed to the empty seat across from her. “Can I sit here?”

Ting Ting nodded. Ram sat down and made himself comfortable. 

“Ram, I’ve been at this for an hour, but the only real epiphany I’ve had is that this textbook is a pretty good pillow.” As if to prove her point, she put her head back down on the textbook. With her head on the table, she watched her friend pull out what looked suspiciously like physics homework from his bag. 

“Hey, can I ask you a question?” she asked.

Ram made a small noise of affirmation. 

“Is physics the only class that engineers take?”

“No, sometimes we only take calculus,” Ram responded dryly. He paused. “Can I ask you a question? About Fon?”

Ting Ting perked up. In preparation for their fake dating operation, Ting Ting had insisted that she and Fon exchange lists of facts about themselves with one another. She was basically a self-proclaimed Fon-expert now. She knew that Fon’s favorite color was green, specifically the brownish savannah kind. Fon had been (kind of) an idol for a total of two months before quitting because she missed her band. And oh, she could tie cherry stems with her tongue. Fon had been rather proud of that one. 

If Ting Ting put even half the amount of effort into studying that she did memorizing that list, she reckoned she could pass organic chemistry. “Hit me with it.”

“You’re not really dating Fon, are you?” Ram asked without even looking up from his papers.

A curveball! “What do you mean? Of course we are.”

Ram gave her a stern look, one that said _That’s fucking bullshit, and you know it, and I know it._ Ting Ting cursed. “Tang told you, didn’t he?” Someone from the next table over shushed her. “That little shit,” she hissed. 

Ram raised an eyebrow. “Tang knows too?”

“Never mind that, who told you?” Ting Ting whispered back. 

“Nobody,” he replied. Ram shifted his eyes conspiratorially and leaned closer. “I just know things.”

Ting Ting rubbed her temples. “Ok, but does anyone else also know these things?”

“Know what things?” a voice asked from behind. Her head snapped towards the speaker. 

“P’King,” Ram said. 

“Hey, babe. Hey, Ting Ting” King greeted them. Ram glared at the term of endearment and looked away, pretending to be annoyed. King smiled back at him. He set his iconic checkered fanny pack down on the table next to Ram and took a seat. 

King put his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder and looked up at his face. “Babe, don’t ignore me.” His eyes shifted down to the papers in front of Ram and hummed softly. “You did number three wrong.”

Ram sighed and finally looked down at King, who still had his head on Ram’s shoulder. “That’s why I asked you to come.”

Ting Ting sighed and fondly recalled a time when King had just been a pining idiot, afraid that just one wrong gaze would push Ram away. Oh, how she missed those days. 

King suddenly sat up. “Hold up, what were you guys talking about?”

“Uh.” Her eyes darted to Ram, mentally pleading for help, but he had already moved back to his homework.

“Oh ho, I know,” King piped up. Turning to Ram, he asked, “I was right, wasn’t I?”

“Right about what?” she asked.

“Ask her yourself,” Ram replied without looking up. 

Ting Ting wanted to scream. 

King threw his elbow on the table and scrutinized her, squinting as if trying to read her mind. Ting Ting squinted back at him. _There’s no way_ , she told herself. This had to be about something else.

“Okay, I’ll get to the point. Are you really dating Fon?”

Good God. 

Ting Ting glared at Ram. “You told him?” 

Ram looked up and shook his head. 

Ting Ting swung her gaze back to King, who wore a shit-eating grin. This really wasn’t a grinning matter.

She took a deep breath. “Who else besides the two of you know about – she waved her hand around – this?”

King frowned. “Well, I haven’t told anyone. Nobody else suspects anything.” He turned to Ram. “Right?”

Ram nodded.

King leaned forward, shifting his weight onto his elbows, and looked at Ting Ting. “Why’d you lie about it?”

Ting Ting groaned. “It’s a long story,” she said, ignoring the inconvenient fact that it was an extremely short story. She didn’t need King judging her. “Are you going to tell them?” 

“Of course not. It’s actually quite fun to watch,” King replied, and then paused. “But I don’t understand what you gain by lying to them.”

He looked to her and cocked his head, perhaps hoping she would explain herself. When she failed to respond, he continued, “I don’t know how close you are with Fon, but I would hate to see this situation hurt either of you,”

Ting Ting frowned. What was he talking about?

“But,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “Like I said, it really isn’t any of my business.” 

“Your concern is appreciated,” Ting Ting said, and she meant it. “But you don’t need to worry about us. We’ll be fine.”

“That’s good,” King said. 

Ting Ting’s alarm went off, and she scrambled to turn it off as eyes in the library turned towards her. If either King or Ram noticed that she used Fon’s song as her alarm tone, they didn’t say anything.

“I have class now. I gotta go,” she said, quickly gathering her stuff. “Nice talking to you.”

As she was heading out, King called after her, “See you and Fon at dinner tonight!”

She could hear the grin in his voice. That little shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **A concept** : King shamelessly calling Ram babe, and Ram hating it but not really, and everyone else hating it and actually hating it
> 
> Someone galaxy brained super hard and made an [FMV compilation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv8wDOyZiCI) of Lay Talay's scenes in a desi web drama called Rejctx. There's a clip of him saying, "Shit's about to go down, babe" in English in it, and let's just say I was inspired.


End file.
